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Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys. I have never done one of these chance threads before but I have always looked at them and cringed in agony at how lazy I look compared to some of these kids. Anyway, I am shooting for the best schools (probably in vain). I know I have a negative attitude and all but you must understand that I am just frustrated with myself for what little I've gotten accomplished. It feels like just yesterday it was freshman year and I was planning on how to get myself into Harvard. The time has passed too quickly, though.
Rising Senior
UW GPA: 3.9
Rank: 14/780
PSAT: 193 (I have yet to take the SAT, but I plan to take it along with the ACT and two SAT subject tests)
AP classes, including those taken so far and those I plan to take next year (N denotes next year): AP World History, AP US History, AP Lang (english 3), AP Lit (english 4)(N), AP Calc BC(N), AP Stats(N), AP Government and AP Macroeconomics(N), AP Physics B, AP Physics Mechanics(N), AP German IV(N), AP European History
AP test scores so far: 3 in AP World History from sophomore year
Extracurriculars: Debate team (since sophomore year), tennis team (since freshman year) no awards or particular distinctions in either EC
Random fact: started German in 9th grade and took Pre-AP German 4 so AP German 4 is technically considered German 5 in my school.</p>

<p>Awards: National German Honors Society, NHS inductee.</p>

<p>No community service.
One parent college graduate, went to a school I am not interested in.
Not in varsity tennis so doubtful that I could be an athletic recruit.
Race: Caucasian (middle eastern)
Income bracket: ~middle class (family is in a lot of debt, financial aid is a must)</p>

<p>Attended Harvard SSP last summer. Got a B- in Microeconomics and a B+ in expository writing. </p>

<p>Intended major: Economics</p>

<p>Interested in most top schools, especially Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, UChicago, MIT, UPenn, Rice. Interested in almost everything except for Yale and Dartmouth. Maybe Cornell. More realistically I wouldn't mind getting into NYU to study econ, but I am turned off by schools with gargantuan student populations. Worst case scenario for me is UT Austin. If I get rejected from everywhere, I at least get an automatic admission into there because I go to school in Texas and am within the top 8% of my class. </p>

<p>Again, please don't criticize me for being negative. You guys should be glad you don't need to drop bombs on me because I already know how unimpressive my app looks ;P Thanks for looking, though, and let me know what you think I can do to pull myself out of this grave to at least make it into someplace marginally better than UT (I don't like football!)</p>

2

<p>Your boards are a bit low for the schools you’re looking at (You’ll want to break 2200/31 at least). Grades are good. ECs are bad, for the types of schools you want you have to stand out, which you dont.
Your AP score of a 3 indicates that your school may not be as competitive as some others (if you’re ranked that high in your class and you’re only getting a 3… well that’s not a good sign).
Harvard- No shot in hell
Princeton- No chance
Stanford- Not a prayer
Brown- Rejected
Columbia- No chance
UChicago- If you write good essays and show interest, maybe wait-listed
MIT- Not a chance
UPenn- No
Rice- No
Cornell- Unlikely </p>

<p>If you like NYU (even just in theory) know that they’re pretty sub par with finaid.
Try schools like Union, American, GW (expensive, but gives everyone at least 10K in scholarship money), BU, Lehigh, Lafayette, Northeastern, Uwisconsin, Penn State. </p>

<p>Maybe William and Mary or Wash U in St. Louis as some reaches.</p>

3

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</p>

<p>Thanks for the response. Any suggestions perhaps as to how I can make it EA into Uchicago? That is one of the ones that has especially caught my interest so you gave me some hope when you differentiated it from the rest.</p>

4

<p>There are a few issues. Number one is what others have pointed out-you not seem to have the scores for top school.</p>

<p>The other big issue is financial aid. Debt is not looked at. Income and assets are. You need to start your search with a full understanding of what your EFC is and what your family can afford. Most of your schools only offer need based aid, you might not be able to afford them.</p>

5

<p>I said that you’d probably end up on their wait list if you did an amazing job on their apps. I don’t think, with your boards being how they are, that you have a real shot.
But:
The thing with U-Chicago is that they really value interest. They are attracting the same students as the ivies, but don’t have the name recognition so they lose out on top students because of that. </p>

<p>So apply EA. Visit before you apply. Interview. Do an amazing job on their essays because they really really value the essay. Do everything in your power to tell them that you want to go there more than anything else. </p>

<p>I’m not saying you have a real chance, you don’t. Because it’s still a long shot you need to improve a lot of areas.
Sit for your tests again. You need better scores, period.
Do something interesting over the summer. Something that has value to you.
Start a community service project.
Get a job and keep your grades up even working xamount of hours a week.
Write a unique essay (The trick is, if anyone else you know could write something even remotely similar to your essay, it’s cliche and you need a different topic).</p>

6

<p>You are selling yourself short. You have already accomplished so much and nothing is there to stop you from accomplishing more. Take a moment to think about what you really want out of a college education - then assure yourself that you can most definitively find it, even if it’s not at one of the “top schools” you mentioned. In fact, if money is an issue, you would be far better off looking at schools that offer merit aid and where you are in the top 10-20% of the applicant pool.</p>

<p>Keep following your passions - that will serve you well as you head toward college, and will serve you even better in life.</p>

7

<p>Get a good SAT, considering you haven’t even taken it once, and you might have a chance at Cornell and such.</p>

<p>Side note… If the class isn’t “AP - Something” then it’s not an AP class. Just saying.</p>

8

<p>Well:
GPA- good
Rank- good
SATs/ACTs-well that was just your PSAT score, and I don’t think that’s too bad for the PSAT… But seriously, aim for 2200+ or 32+ ACT and 750+ on subject tests.
ECs- weakish… But it’s kind of too late to join anything now…</p>

<p>It really all depends on your scores now… Aim high and you at least have as shot… </p>

<p>If this was your entire app right now though, you would get rejected by most, if not all, of those colleges… But you can change that still.</p>

9

<p>Thank you all for the replies. Although I said financial aid is a must, money definitely won’t hold me back from attending any college. </p>

<p>

I kind feel like that was my fault because I didn’t study for the test outside of class. The teacher gave out massive curves and I got an A+ in the class, I approached the test knowing I would probably do poorly on it. I go to a public school that is semi-ghetto and nobody in my family knows about what is beyond the local college, so that may answer your question of “competitiveness.” </p>

<p>

Since this seems to be the biggest problem, the first thing I will do to fix my situation is start to study the practice booklet every day until the day I take the SAT on May.</p>

<p>Do you guys also suggest that I study a Princeton Review (or some other review book) for every AP class that I am in currently? I plan to take the AP tests for Lang, US History, European History (this class is a free 100 so it worries me the most), and Physics.</p>

<p>

Thanks for this, this is the part especially that I am looking for. I remember part of my original plans was community service to show my appreciation for the community and getting a job to show maturity and so on. The thing is, though, that these things still don’t point to a clear passion. All I am proving is that I am a hard-worker, and these colleges know that hard-workers aren’t guaranteed to succeed and give their colleges a good name. All of these kids posting their awards from international competitions like USAMO on the decisions threads… around here we know nothing of any of those organizations or competitions. So it is really hard for me to break into another world entirely while I am relegated to this one (public school where most people go to the local university, one out of the 1000 gets into a school like Rice, one of out 1000 once in a decade gets into Harvard, a lot of people don’t go to college).</p>

<p>

All the AP classes I posted were AP classes. Sorry, didn’t mean to mislead you by putting (english 3) or (english 4).</p>

<p>

This… this is what I want to know. How? How can I change that still? Time went too fast for me… I never got to do anything I planned to. I thought I would get into Varsity tennis and both of my legs were injured to the point that I can’t even run anymore, so tennis is no longer significant. I thought I would be able to win debate tournaments and get some awards from that but I simply cannot compete with other teams that have their coaches offering them handcrafted cases, while our coach leaves us to our own devices (which is what is the right thing to do, but it doesn’t help our chances of winning). I also thought I would get plenty of volunteer hours. The way I see it, all that time I thought I would be volunteering I spent trying to get straight A+'s. I thought I might have a small chance at leadership. And I did. I was elected treasurer of FBLA, the business club, with no competition. The club fell apart though because nobody wanted to join and the president didn’t know what to do, and with nothing for me to do, I haven’t attended to my officer position the entire year. </p>

<p>Question: Since most universities say that you should study a foreign language for 4 years, do you all think it would be beneficial that I replace my German 5 period next year with an off-period (or something else you guys may suggest)? Or is having 5 years of German a super-unique thing that will set me apart from others?</p>

<p>This is my plan on how to save myself and maybe make it into Uchicago:
Begin taking practice SAT test every day and make at least a 2200.
Maintain grades and top 2% ranking.
Get a job starting in the summer and maintain throughout the school year (I will try for a tech store because if anything is my passion, it is technology, even if I am selling it)
Get physical therapy and try to do better in tennis.
Spend savings on the evidence cards our school doesn’t buy for us so I can do better against other schools in debate. Pay a private debate coach maybe to help with writing cases.
Use my recent induction into NHS as an opportunity to attend each and every service project and give back to the community.
Find out what to do over summer (anyone have any suggestions beside job and volunteering?)
And finally, this one is important: re-read Cal Newport’s book, re-read through every decisions thread, re-read “good extracurriculars” thread, NO SLEEP until I find an idea and discover my passion and pursue that and become unique. <– because honestly I am so behind because I haven’t discovered any passion that I can set my mind on and I really want to but I just can’t.</p>

<p>Also: Will taking a gap year to help out in Africa or something help me out? I don’t want to sound shallow, I would actually enjoy helping out others for a year.</p>

<p>OKAY. Aside from my plan typed out above, will you guys, in your infinite wisdom (and I know this is a hassle, since I am so desperate and whatnot) PLEASE give me suggestions as to what specifically I should and can and need to do to put myself on par with Harvard kids. </p>

<p>As always, I acknowledge that I type way too much and I am too frantic but I am not going to give up on my dream of getting into a top school. I have been too lazy to this point and if I don’t make changes I am going to be crushed when every university rejects me and I have to go to stay in Texas and live my life depressed. Yes, I know even if that happens I will get a worldclass education and I will be fine in life, but that is not my dream right now, my dream right now is making it into a top institution the likes of HYPSM and the non-ivy ivies like Uchicago and Rice (the only Texan school I don’t mind). Thanks so much guys for helping.</p>

10

<p>NEWSFLASH: A “normal student” does not have an UW GPA of 3.9. If that’s normal, than I’m remedial. Rice and UChicago are absolutely within reach if you can kill the SAT/ACT. Also, write unique and interesting essays that make a splash. You really can’t do anything about the lackluster ECs at this point, so focus on the things you can chance. Also, consider some slightly lower tier schools that still have a great reputation.</p>

11

<p>Well, from now on out: take EVERY opportunity your school gives you… Colleges don’t really care about how many EC’s you have, they care more about how well you use the resources given to you… So any competition, award, etc… DO IT! </p>

<p>Secondly, about the SAT: find a book YOU like… I found that although Barron’s may be best for whatever subject test or whatever, I may not personally like it myself… So find a book brand you like and stick with it for the most part. Personally, I LOVE Princeton review, but I can tolerate some Barron’s books… (like the AP bio one, but I hate the SAT and AP chemistry ones) look through the consolidated list of books recommended for SAT/AP’s that are stickied in the forums and try some of those… I personally am not taking the SAT, so I can’t recommend any books I liked, but if you want ACT recommendations, I will…</p>

<p>SAT subject tests ( based on my studying thus far): SAT chemistry: Barron’s is usually recommended, but I LOVED PR.
Math level 2: Barron’s
USH; since you’re taking the AP, use AMSCO or direct hits or REA to study for both at the same time… Honestly, I liked REA a lot… AMSCO was too textbooky for me…
Biology: I haven’t found one I like, but I will tell you I don’t like the Barron’s all that much… And since I’m in AP biology, I’m not too worried about finding a good SAT one either. </p>

<p>APs: study your ass off for those tests and get 5s. I already recommended a book for APUSH up there^</p>

<p>Volunteer: do it over the summer! 100 hours is a good number to start off with. </p>

<p>Alright, I think I’m done… Lol. Sorry I rambled… And sorry for any spelling/grammatical errors; I’m on my phone and it sucks to type on this thing. Lol</p>

12

<p>Start an economics club, get an internship this summer at a firm/company related to your intended major, do tons of community service.
Write absolutely fantastic, original essays. </p>

<p>

No. So many people write about how they went to help out people in a third world country and how they learned so much and to be greatfull, you really need to make yourself stand out, if you can’t you have no shot. </p>

<p>

IT’s good, They will acknowledge that you put effort into learning a language. To have 5 years of german opposed to 4. It doesn’t even make a difference, it’s such a small thing. </p>

<p>

REally bad idea. If you want to work hard to study for SATs go ahead, if you want to join a club go ahead - don’t do things only for the hope of getting into a school. It’s a waste of your time. Do things you enjoy, do those things really well. Spend the next year of highschool having fun, doing activities that interest you. Honestly, if you have a gap in activities and then all of sudden have an abundance of 6 month long activities that you never showed any indication of liking before, it will look weird and they’ll catch on.</p>

13

<p>Just have to put out there that UT Austin’s programs are as good as some Ivy League schools so there is nothing wrong with going there, and it may end up making alot more financial sense in the end.</p>

<p>I have a friend that was accepted to Bucknell with quite a large amount of money and UVa, unfortunately even with the massive aide he gets from Bucknell, UVa will still be a better deal overall for him simply because he is instate, seriously don’t miss out on your flagship its a great school on its own and has alot of what you need.</p>

<p>And look at some of the mid-tier private schools, they would like to attract the calibre of student you are, and certainly have the funding to hand out money to such students, I have plenty of friends that are going to schools like BU because of how great of a scholarship they recieved</p>